Abstract

Reliability and efficiency of power transmission has been at the forefront of research for some time and is currently being given critical consideration due to the increased dependence on electrical energy. With the increased demand for electricity, engineers are considering different methods of supply arrangement to improve the security of electricity supply. High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission is a technology that avails itself for distance power transmission, interconnection of asynchronous networks and cross sea or offshore power transmission. The main element of an HVDC system is the AC/DC or DC/AC power converter.

Recently, a new breed of power converters suitable for HVDC transmission has been the subject of considerable research work. These converters are modular in structure with high efficiency and their operation results in higher power quality, with reduced filtering components when compared to the use of Line Commutated and two-level or three-level Voltage Source Converter (VSC) based transmission systems. One such modular circuit is the Parallel Hybrid Modular Multilevel Voltage Source Converter (PH-M2L-VSC).

This research investigates the operation and control of the PH-M2L-VSC for HVDC applications. Control schemes supporting the operation of the converter as would be expected of an HVDC VSC are proposed, including operation with an unbalanced AC network. Simulation results from a medium voltage demonstrator and experimental results from a laboratory scale prototype are presented to validate the methods proposed and enable a performance comparison to be made with other topologies.